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Meet The Ukrainian Hackers Targeting The Kremlin's Master Manipulator

Unlike two of his colleagues, U.S. Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., backs auto industry led efforts to combat car hacking over government regulation. Commenting during an auto cybersecurity conference near Detroit yesterday, Peters said “There is a knowledge gap” in Washington, D.C. on automotive cybersecurity. He proposed the development of a national laboratory for research into thwarting car hacking at a Detroit-area facility and called for stepping up existing law enforcement efforts.

Peters’ industry-friendly stance on automotive cyber security contrasts with that of Senators Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who have called for legislation to protect car owners from car hacking and safeguard driver data collected by connected vehicles. "The way to prevent Congress from pushing it further is for the industry to step up," Peters said. "The technology is moving so fast that the problem will be the regulators not being able to keep up."

As vehicles have become increasingly connected, several groups of security researchers have called attention to vehicle hacking, and the issue gained prominence last year after several high-profile but staged hacks. In February of 2015, a segment on 60 Minutes showed a correspondent from the TV series lose control of a car researchers had manipulated. In July, two well-known computer security experts remotely disabled the transmission of a Jeep Cherokee while the vehicle traveled a busy highway in St. Louis with a journalist behind the wheel.

In response, Jeep parent company Fiat Chrysler America quickly issued a recall consisting of a software patch for the 1.4 million vehicles that included the Internet-enabled infotainment system in the Cherokee. The two main car industry trade groups, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers, also established an Information Sharing and Analysis Center to act as a clearinghouse for intelligence regarding vehicle cyber threats and share best practices.

As part of the efforts to thwart car hacking, automakers started hiring cybersecurity experts, and Tesla began offering “bug bounties” of up to $10,000 to security researchers to find vulnerabilities. GM recently did the same, but minus the cash payments.

But industry efforts have not been enough to calm consumer fears and policymaker concerns. Markey and Blumenthal released a report the day after the 60 Minutes segment that described auto industry attempts to stop car hacking and protect driver privacy as “inconsistent and haphazard.”

Markey believes that industry self-policing hasn’t worked in the past with auto-related safety issues. “Witnesses sat here 30 years ago and said the same thing about air bags and seat belts," Markey said. “People expect air bags to protect their children. And they're going to expect certain standards across the board that are going to protect people."